Air Astana (KC, Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev) has begun talks with Emirates (EK, Dubai International) over a planned codeshare agreement the airline’s chief executive and president Peter Foster told the Gulf News this week.

“We would like to have a stronger relationship with Emirates,” he said while declining to expand on any further details. “It’s too early to say but we expect things will go ahead,” he said.

Currently, Air Astana operates a daily service between Almaty International and Dubai International in competition with flydubai.

The Kazakh carrier currently has codeshare agreements with Air India, Asiana Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Turkish Airlines, and is believed to be in talks with Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as well.